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Proposed elementary school zones presented

Sanrda Anderson, a teacher at Evans Elementary, and Mark Hoffman, with the board of education technology department, look over one of the zoning maps during a public presentation to address the zoning changes affecting Evans Elementary School.

School officials unveiled a map of proposed elementary school zones to the Columbia County school board at its Tuesday meeting.

The rezoning process is prompted by the new Evans Elementary School that is scheduled to open on Gibbs Road for the 2013-2014 school year.

The new 51-classroom school is projected to have 640 pupils enrolled when it opens, according to a presentation by Robert Jarrell, the school system’s assistant superintendent for student support.

All pupils currently attending Evans Elementary will move to the new school, which is expected to grow by 204 pupils. Half of those pupils would come from Bel Air.

The other half of Bel Air’s pupil population will move to Martinez Elementary, where 212 new pupils are projected to bring the school’s total enrollment to 670 for next school year.

“What we’ve done at this point is made an imaginary line from just east of the Moss Creek subdivision north to Owens Road at Marty Drive,” Jarrell said. “That’s a separation line.”

Though Bel Air will close after this school year, the campus will be used by Martinez while its current building is razed. A new Martinez Elementary is scheduled to open August 2014.

Just over 20 Greenbrier Elementary pupils living on Blanchard Road, south of Clark Drive to Hereford Farm Road, will be shifted to the new Evans Elementary to serve as a feeder school for Evans Middle and Evans High.

“No students are being relocated from Evans Elementary or Martinez Elementary,” Jarrell said. “If they are attending those schools now, they will continue to attend those schools.”

• Also released during the meeting were SAT score comparisons from 2011 and 2012.

Overall, Evans and Harlem high schools improved slightly from 2011, while scores at Greenbrier, Grovetown and Lakeside high schools dropped marginally.

The school district’s scores remained higher than both state and national results.

• In addition, superintendent Charles Nagle updated the school board on enrollment figures.

The school system has grown by 735 students to a total school population of 24,347, which is 348 students more than initially expected.

The bulk of that growth is concentrated near the Grovetown area, Nagle said.

Grovetown High grew by 86 students, he said.

• The search for a new school superintendent began Monday. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 17. The school board announced that the search committee will begin meeting later this month.